Kolkata, March 28 As many as 30 people have been arrested by West Bengal Police in connection with tension and violence over a Ram Navami procession at Jangipur in the minority-dominated Murshidabad district, an official said on Saturday.
Although the situation was quickly brought under control following prompt joint action by the state police and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), the area had, for some time, virtually turned into a battlefield.
Several people were injured in the clashes, some of whom are still undergoing treatment at a local hospital. An insider from the Jangipur Police district said that after the situation was brought under control, joint teams of the state police and CAPF began tracking those responsible for the violence.
From Friday evening till Saturday afternoon, as many as 30 people have been arrested in this connection.
The police are also conducting search operations to trace others involved in the violence. Several FIRs, including a suo motu case, have been registered in the matter.
CAPF personnel are continuously patrolling and conducting route marches in the affected areas. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has sought a report from the state’s Director General of Police on the matter.
“Because of the timely intervention, night-long patrolling and prompt arrests, normalcy has been restored in the area since Saturday morning. Shops have reopened and life is more or less normal. However, as a precautionary measure, patrolling and route marches are continuing, and prohibitory orders barring the assembly of more than a specified number of people have been imposed in the affected areas,” said a district police officer.
Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, however, blamed the ECI and claimed that the Commission’s decisions on rampant transfers, replacement and deputation of experienced police officers to other states led to the escalation of tension at Jangipur on Friday.
“Had the earlier police officers, who had sufficient experience of the area, been present, such tension would not have broken out,” the Chief Minister said at an election campaign rally on Saturday afternoon.
Earlier in the day, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, while addressing media persons in Kolkata, said that this year the extent of violence over Ram Navami processions was much less than in previous years, as the Commission had replaced the earlier allegedly biased personnel with more experienced and unbiased officers.
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